Oh The Things You See Out On The Road

There never seems to be any end to the amusing things that one sees when traveling around the country. Here's a very random shot at sharing some of the things I've witnessed lately. At a truck stop I recently saw a lady who was travelling, albeit I guess, on a tight budget. Instead of sleeping at a hotel she was out in the middle of the parking lot with a fold out lounge chair snoring away right out there under the stars. At another truck stop there was an old school bus painted up with 60's looking graphics and about 6 or 7 people living in it that looked like they were lost in some sort of time warp or something. I mean they could have been hippies from the Vietnam war era. These were not old hippies that just never got over it, but young people in their twenties. They were apparently out of money for gas so they were walking around the parking lot serenading people with their ukuleles and singing songs to passers by hoping for a few coins to be tossed their way.

This morning while leaving south Texas I saw a feral sow happily trotting down the highway with her head held high like she knew what she was doing, and her tail wagging gleefully while nine little piglets marched in line behind her doing their best to look just as dignified and confident as their mother.

I've seen some beautiful sunrises on the road - I like to start early - the traffic is lighter and when your driving time is up you don't have to frantically circle the truck stops vainly searching for a place to squeeze into for the night.

I also saw a truck with Aquila Trucking painted on it's doors.

Oh yeah, and I have also discovered who buys all the worn out trucks and trailers that our trucking companies sell after they've squeezed every last bit of goodie out of them. When I was down in Laredo (the trucking mecca of Texas - I mean there is not hardly a trucking company alive that does not have a terminal or a drop yard of some sort in that crazy border town) I realized the Mexican trucking companies have all of our old worn out trucks down there on their side of the border. I couldn't hardly believe the trucks they were bringing stuff into Laredo with, and the trailers were for the most part completely dilapidated. I waited about five hours for a truck with a load of pipe to cross the border and then they unloaded it from him and put it on my trailer headed for Ohio. They have to off load the trailers because there is no way you can do a drop and hook (which would make so much more sense) because the trailer would never make it past the first inspection station. Oh and that reminds me of another thing I saw down there - at the CMV inspection stations the signs were in English and Spanish - never mind the rules that you have to be able to speak and read English to get a CDL in the U.S.

I also had a Texas D.O.T. officer come flying up behind me with his lights on, so I pulled it over and he walked around to the front of my truck without ever saying a word and starts signalling for me to turn on my blinkers, headlights, etc. - then he comes to the door without even so much as a "good day" and tells me he's going to do the same thing at the back, and when he's done for me to bring my vehicle registration, insurance certificate, license, medical card, and load paperwork with me and meet him in his car. When I get there he apologizes to me and tells me he was heading home and realized he hadn't gotten his quota of inspections done for the day, so that's why he chased me down like he did. Other than slowing down my roll it didn't hurt so bad, I had done my pre-trip and I knew everything was good. And since we get a little incentive pay for clean inspections, I'll get a few extra dollars on my next paycheck - Woo-Hoo!

I also saw a truck with Aquila Trucking painted on it's doors.

They seem to be a company out of Colorado from what I can find. I'll guarantee you one thing - you'll never see me try to make money owning trucks. Heck with that. If I were going to try to make a living in the trucking industry it would be writing software or freight brokering or logistics services of some sort. I sure as heck wouldn't by trucks and haul freight though. No way.

The pigs you saw had me crackin up!

You do indeed come across a ton of unbelievable stuff out on the road. Some of the people you meet you know within 30 seconds are truly one of a kind. The sights you'll see, the places you'll wind up - you never know what you're going to come across from one moment to the next.

I think that was my favorite thing about trucking - there was no such thing as a routine day. It might seem that way at times, but when you look back on your day there's always a few really unusual things that stand out as truly unique or totally unpredictable. You really see just how diverse this country is - both the land and the people.